Eco Factor: Portable wind energy generator to power wireless sensors. According to statistics, about 2 percent of global electricity comes from wind-powered generators, and their capacity has doubled in the past three years. However, scaling down wind turbines for use as an electronic device charger hasnâ€™t proved fruitful, as conventional wind turbines require rotating fins and gears, which add bulk, making the device inefficient when scaled down.

Eco Factor: Process developed to harvest raw electricity from algae. Harvesting biofuel from algae isnâ€™t a new concept and that biofuel can also be used to generate electricity via a variety of systems. However, a team of researchers from Korea and California have for the first time developed a process that allows them to harvest raw electricity directly from algae.